Friday, February 13, 2009

This black unneutered male Cocker Spaniel came up to us at around 11th St. and Caldwell while we were walking our dogs. There were some people nearby, and we asked if this was their dog, and they said no, so we brought him home and called Animal Care & Control.

He's wearing a spiked collar with no tags and looks like he's been wandering the streets for a couple of days or so. He was very tired and thirsty.

There are several factors at play here, and irresponsible pet owners is certainly a large part.

We've always seen quite a few strays in this neighborhood, and they tend to be unneutered males with either collars but no tags, or no collars at all. Our past rate of finding and catching strays has been about 5 or 6 per year, with another 2 or so getting away. This year the rate is already more than double the usual, likely due to people abandoning their pets when their homes are foreclosed upon. There are lots of bank-owned empty homes on the street where we found this dog and in the surrounding area.

Maricopa County Animal Care and Control also changed its policies so that their officers no longer will pick up loose strays nor even respond to calls about loose strays--they'll only come and take a dog if somebody has the stray in their possession and is present when they arrive to make the handoff.

Like you, we walk our dogs about two miles each day, often up and down the Highline Canal, which is a place where a stray dog can find water.

We also live in a neighborhood with a large lower-income Hispanic population, many of whom seem to have Mexican cultural attitudes towards dogs--no neutering, vaccination, or licensing, and letting the dogs run loose.